Binding Clockwork
by The Hivemind
Summary: Naruto was like a clock: solid and dependable, if one that needed to be adjusted every few days. But what happens to this clock after it is broken? And what about those that depend on it? Chain Story by the Hivemind.


A/N: The following has been writen by The Hivemind (Patent Pending) in this order:

Thorn, SoTF, Timewave Zero, Parker, Vesvius B (Yours Truly), M2J. It might seem a tad disjointed, but hey, there were six of us who wrote this.

Enjoy it as we rip canon apart bit, by tiny bit. It starts with one change: What would happen if Sasuke accepted Sakura's offer and took her with him.

-- equals Author and Scene Change  
& equals just scene change  
()() equals just Authoer Change

* * *

Naruto's mind raced as his rasengan and Sasuke's chidori flew toward each other. Just a few hours earlier, Izumo and Kotetsu had charged into the Hokage's office claiming that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were fleeing the village with four Sound shinobi. Genma and Raidou, whom the two were patrolling with, had engaged the enemy ninja and had commanded the two chuunin to immediately tell Tsunade, though the two still did not escape some injury. Tsunade called in Nara Shikamaru, newly minted chuunin, and had placed him in command of a rag tag squad of his choice to bring back the two missing nin.

When Naruto heard that Sasuke had defected, he wasn't really surprised. His rival had been extremely unbalanced lately and Orochimaru's beckoning of power held much promise for the youngest Uchiha. Sakura's betrayal, however, had hit hard. With Sakura's betrayal, he realized that no one on Team 7 held any sort of loyalty to him and that stung far worse than any harsh stare from a civilian.

But that was ok…because he promised that he would beat sense into their very bones, even if it meant breaking every last one.

His only boon was that Sakura had thus far stayed out of the fight. Most likely because Sasuke told her to.

Finally, Naruto's demonically powered rasengan met Sasuke's cursed chidori, the power of the two techniques seemed to warp their very surroundings and time seemed to stop. After a moment, a roar of explosion boomed out from the two techniques and a winged Sasuke fell smoking to the valley floor.

Naruto landed gently on the ground and walked toward Sasuke, not sparing Sakura a glance. He knew that if he started on his way back to Konoha with Sasuke, she'd follow. He let out a sigh as he diffused Kyubi's chakra and gave a small smile. He bent down to pick up his unconscious friend.

"C'mon teme. Time to go hom- urk!"

Blood seeped from Naruto's chest, a kunai blade protruding through. He painfully turned around, tears welled up in his eyes.

"Sakura-chan…why?"

Sakura was crying loudly, her sorrowful sobs the only noise in the vast Valley of the End.

"P-please Naruto…just leave us alone…This is what Sasuke-kun wants…And I love him, I'll follow him anywhere."

Suddenly the sound of a thousand birds filled the air as Sasuke sat up and shoved his hand through Naruto's stomach.

"I didn't need your help." Was the last thing Naruto heard before he collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.

--

Tsunade watched Naruto rest in the hospital with an almost sad sigh.

She almost grimaced at the lightning, wondering if the sky was echoing her own emotions.

Anger was the first followed by disappointment at what the fools had caused.

The traitors of the Leaf were often few and far between, but recently it seemed that their numbers were growing faster. Mizuki and Kabuto were closer in time than any others, though now two more were stacked on, one being the last member of a clan with a wanted bloodline, Sakura and Sasuke.

And that left the village in a near riot with everyone wanting to know who to blame for the catastrophic loss of at least one major village asset and then for that asset to take another member of the village with him to a sworn enemy of the Leaf.

At least the blame seemed to fall on that damnable group that Sarutobi had begun to rely on for the day to day matters as his age slowly crept up upon him. It was disheartening to think about how aging had effected the professor, making him physically incapable of doing all that he had once done in the office, the same reasons he had retired in the first place.

She wondered how different things would have been if someone else had taken the position of Hokage after Arashi died rather than bringing back Sarutobi. Would things still have had the same result, would there still be four traitors in half as many years?

The Hokage leaned back in her seat wishing that her assistant would have let her drink here.

A loud crack as her clenched hands snapped the wooden armrests of the chair giving her pause while letting the splintered wood fall free to the floor to clatter for a moment.

Glancing at her hands she began the long work of plucking the fragments of wood from her palms with a hiss of pain and a momentary shudder at the crimson fluid that pooled in each hand as she worked. The fear remained even with the events that had brought her back to Konoha, but she did not seize up as she used to do when confronted with blood.

Tsunade wondered why the boy hadn't healed already, it was almost as if the demon vessel had given up the will to live. It was that thought that made her shiver as a bandage was offered by Shizune and taken to bandage her hands temporarily.

Naruto had said that he loved the pink haired bitch who had stabbed him, something that scared her more than his actual injuries. And with the two responsible for the mess being his own teammates, well, she hoped that he could recover from the mess better than his own teacher had from the loss of Obito and Rin.

Of Course, the lazy asshole had become even more reclusive, vanishing into his apartment and only being seen staring at the monument. He seemed to grow more and more haggard with each sighting, apparently refusing to eat.

Jiriaya was trying to drag the student of his own student out of that hole in the hopes that it would help the next link down in the chain, Naruto.

She hoped that the energetic, earnest, and bright eyed boy that had managed to convince her to return to the city from which she had sworn to never return would retain what made him what he was.

After all, she wanted to retire someday as well.

--

The sun bared down upon him, causing the energetic blond to turn away from its shining rays. A warm breeze flooded the busy city streets, the villagers weaving in and out of each other, searching for their favorite places. Searching for food, clothing, searching for their defining answers. He sighed wearily as the right foot tapped subconsciously against the ground, his team-mates were taking far too long to come out from the hot-springs. Being the grandmaster of pranks he prayed, just this once, that the prank wasn't on him.

"Oi Teme! Let's go!"

The door creaked open and Kakashi emerged from the locker room, with perfectly pressed clothes. Mask in place to cover the mystery that belonged to him and the over-the-top headband that covered the left side of his face and blocked the Sharingan from outside view.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the sight of the Jounin, "you're not teme!"

Kakashi raised his hands in mock defense, "calm down Naruto, they're not going anywhere. Besides, why the rush?"

Naruto growled in frustration, "ramen dammit! There's a ramen special going on at Ichiraku's and we're going to miss it if you guys don't hurry it up!"

"I'm not much for ramen Naruto," walking past Naruto he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Be sure to tell your team-mates to be at the training grounds at nine. Enjoy."

Smoke erupted from where he stood, enveloping his body as the chakra activated the necessary points in the body for the Shunshin. Within a fraction of a second, the Jounin was well over half a kilometer away, the smoke cleared leaving Naruto standing by himself in front of Konoha onsen with a face becoming more and more like a tomato.

"That bastard..." Another door opened and his attention shifted, from the onsen emerged a pink-haired girl. Her hair still wet, clothes crisp against her body. A small blush covered the corners of the whiskered cheek as his eyes unraveled her from beyond the veil. Their eyes met and he quickly turned away, replacing his blush with a scowl. Faked intent aimed at the door of the men's locker-room, damn Sasuke and his feminine tendencies!

Sasuke finally emerged from the onsen, his hair in a pristine state. Conditioned by Konoha's finest herbal goods, clothes like Sakura and Kakashi's pressed crisp with aristocratic looks. A nonchalant look on his face, hands in pockets, as he walked towards the pair composing of the other half of Team 7 without a care to the world. "Tch, not everyone lives like village trash dobe."

Naruto grabbed hold of Sasuke's shirt in response, "what's that supposed to mean?!"

The Uchiha smirked as his hands snaked out of his pockets and through Naruto's piss-poor guard. Forming into a closed fist, it tore through the air and planted into the blond's gut making him release the hold on his shirt and sending the boy reeling backwards in a momentary lapse of pain. "It means what it means, dobe." Without so much as an apology, the black haired boy walked past Naruto slightly nodding Sakura to follow.

"What the hell teme!"

Sakura grabbed hold of Naruto and pushed him back, and shook her head before walking past him before falling behind Sasuke defined by her own goals and motivations.

Nails dug into the flesh as small drops of blood exited from the newly created wound. Closing his eyes Naruto took in several breaths and calmed his body and relaxed for a moment to feel nature gently move by him. Unfortunately he didn't feel nature, he felt emptiness and then dread. Survival instincts kicked into overdrive as he turned around to warn his team-mates only to feel an incredibly large amount of electrical shock tear through his abdominal area. Bluish-energy crackled in madness as the attack dug into his clothes, beyond the flesh and through his ribs.

Crimson flooded the street as pieces of his stomach, small and large intestines emptied onto the village street with a wet smack. Blood erupted from his mouth as he collapsed onto his knees before succumbing to gravity, pain having overloaded his nerves and sending him into instant shock. A small part of himself reached out in an ethereal sense for anyone willing to help him, save him, heal him. Ruby tainted his teeth and lips as well as the remainder of his clothes, life ebbing away he could barely smell the burns across his clothes. Sharpened emerald dug into his neck and his body if only for a moment found energy for his heart to pump one last time. Words resonated across the hole in his torso; within his heart, eyes, lips, teeth, nails, within the blood of his veins.

"Enough Naruto."

Naruto screamed.

&

A shadow overcast his body as murky warm watter lapped up against his wet feet. Azure stood up against crimson as fear coursed through its system, low gruff-breathing rebounded against the spacious cavity composing the room beyond which stood a beast that guarded the hatred bound to eternity. **"A toy so broken, has finally come to a halt. Its key unturned and without life."**

Lips quivered, searching for something, anything, to respond. To retaliate, dig into the steel and cut away the chains. Seeking an exit from the torrential rains that came down upon his misguided soul.

**"And so it seeks for strength, to rebuild its shattered resolve against a symphony of death created by its own two hands."**

Crystaline aqua began morphing into a lighter color of ruby, an unnatural glow emanating from the cores of the irises.

**"Hoping and praying that its hewbris, its bravado, and its lusts will disappear with newfound power to turn its own key. To escape a destiny, a fate, that was assigned to it."**

Legs buckled under the blond as hands instinctively reached forward to halt the fall. Water cascaded upwards with a splash as Naruto collapsed, his psyche giving away to the mental pressure that had been pushed aside for aeons. Tears overspilled the walls that made his eyes and the water enveloped him into a warm cocoon, protecting him from his own escape.

**"A broken toy."**

A column of crimson chakra coiled into a serpent moving towards the bars that kept it at bay. The column began to deteriorate as seals glowed to life and ate away at the malicious energy, reducing the size of the serpentine coil to that of a vine. With concentration the coil escaped the reaches of the majestic Shinigami and its soul binding before hovering over the blond's forehead. It twitched in anticipation, waiting for its creator to give it purpose.

**"Yet chance allows a toy to escape its purpose, and soon the key will shift. A better foundation it will seek, and by such design it will turn and spring forth a new life for its own two hands."**

The coil twitched with finality before penetrating the blond's forehead and dug into its memories, and begun the process of transferring existences. Silence echoed from worlds existing beyond nothingness, tabula rasa adeo vita.

()()()()

Pain coursed through Naruto's body as the tendril of the Kyuubi's red chakra attached it's self to his head. He could feel something extending from the string of chakra. He could not hold back his scream as the extension broke the skin on his forehead and split off into many still smaller extensions and swept through his body almost like they were searching for something.

The pain was torturous and orgasmic at the same time, filling his body with an addictive power that caused his body to shudder and shake with both pleasure and pain. He felt the tendrils stop where they were, they had found what they were looking for and they had done their job. His screams only worsened as they burst from his skin and went back to the being from whence they had departed from. As he rolled around in the water of his mind and clawed at his skin trying to keep it from falling off his bones the red eyes of the being that had gave those strange sensations to him stared passively down at him the same way someone would look at a cockroach.

The pain stopped and Naruto regained his sense of self as his broken skin melded back to it's rightful place and position. He felt empty, that power was so great and so strong, was this the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune? No, it could not be, if it were then there would not have been any chance for victory against this horrid beast. Then Naruto fleetingly entertained the notion that there had been no true victory against this beast, only placing a slight obstacle in it's way. He banished the thought from his mind and payed attention to the great beast that before him, it had started to speak.

**"I have given you power, Broken Toy, use it as you wish, but know that with that power comes a price, one that has already been paid to me."**

With that said Naruto was expelled from the strange sewer like place. He burst upwards from where he was laying, he was surrounded by doctors and the air was full of a strange stench that he could not quite place. As he looked down it became apparent that the smell was coming from his soiled bed. Apparently when the torture like experience had reached it's peak he had both came and evacuated his bowels. The bed was further soiled when he then vomited on himself.

--

It was days before Naruto exhibited another sign of life. Immediately after waking up screaming and then befouling himself, he had lapsed into the wonderful bliss of unconsciousness. He had slept deeply, beyond the realm of dreams and demons. Numerous people, ranging from Ichiraku Ayame to Jiraya of the Sannin, came to visit him, but he stirred for none of them.

Slowly, stiff after days of no motion, Naruto rolled over. The usual table next to the bed of hospital had been replaced by one not out of place in the grand banquet halls of the old families. On it were gifts from what seemed like everyone he knew. In the center was a large flower arrangement, made up entirely of orange blossoms.

Naruto stared at the flowers for a moment. 'Orange!' he thought. 'Awesome!'

At the same time, another voice in his mind thought 'Orange! Disgusting!' before making a spitting sound.

The Konoha gennin shook his head, trying to clear it of the sudden disorientation. But as his head swung from side to side, he looked over the entire room. It seemed that for every thought he had, another thought sprang to mind. Ramen was at once the best meal ever and disgusting crap. Iruka was a brother and a piece of manipulating trash. Books were both boring and interesting.

Gasping in pain, Naruto's hands covered his ears, trying in vain to stop the conflicting voices in his head. It was because of that that he missed hearing the door to his room open and shut.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of holding his ears, he looked up. Shizune was standing there. Her own hand was covering her mouth, which had formed an 'O' of shock.

"Nee-san?" he asked plaintively, ignoring the other voice that said 'shrew'. "What's happening to me?"

()()()()

Though she had not known him long- only for the last couple of months- there are many things that Shizune had come to associate many things with Uzumaki Naruto.

Considerate, caring, loud, brash, confident, intense, hopeful, desire, luck, orange, ramen, and Hokage- to name a few.

If there was ANYTHING she would never have associated with him, it was the very emotion in his eyes, the very tremor in his voice, the wavering sound of the words as they left his mouth.

There was only one word to describe the look in his eyes, the expression on his face, the tremor in his posture and the cracking of his voice.

Fear.

Wild, untamed, unimaginable, unadulterated, horrifying, terrible fear.

"Naruto-kun?" asked Shizune with concern.

"N-nee-chan... S-Something..." Naruto stuttered.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked again, a bit nervously. She took a step towards the near hysterical shinobi.

**WEAK. PATHETIC.**

"NO!" shouted Naruto suddenly, startling the concerned med-nin.

"Naruto-kun!" Shizune shouted as she rushed to the aid of her charge.

"St-stay away!" shouted Naruto, flailing his arms in a near hysterical panic. "St-stay... stay... away..." He voice had gradually become more of a whispered plea instead of the panicked yell it had been just moments before.

**FOOL.**

Naruto shuddered at the sound of the second voice in his head. He held his hand to his forehead in a feeble attempt to stave off the splitting pain in his head.

It was no use.

As he succumbed to the darkness once more, the voice spoke out again...

**"RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."**

&

The remaining loyal members of the Konoha 12 were very dowtrodden, as was much of Konoha.

Rock Lee had seemingly lost his fire, and Yamanaka Ino had become somewhat of a recluse, sticking to only those she knew she could absolutely trust. Much to her parent's dismay, they were not a part of that VERY exclusive group. Even the mask of the stoic Aburame Shino seemed to have cracked, as a constant frown marred his once impassive face.

While the betrayals of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura had shaken each of them to their very cores, affecting them in no insignificant amount, it was the fall of Uzumaki Naruto that had changed them.

There was a tenseness within the village that seemed to stem from the self-destruction of Team 7.

But no one was seemingly more affected than Nara Shikamaru. For the last few weeks since the end of the mission, he had been training relentlessly- both mentally and physically. As he trained, the images of that ill fated mission ran through his mind on constant replay.

Hyuuga Neji and Akimichi Chouji had each been mortally wounded in their respective battles. They had been all but dead when they had finally received medical attention, but both were going to make a full recovery. Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru had been in critical condition. Akamaru had suffered from many cracked and bruised bones, while Kiba had nearly gone into shock from blood loss. Lee had only aggravated his injuries from his match with Gaara during the Chuunin Exams and had set back his rehab several months, while he himself had merely suffered from a single broken finger. Naruto had completely broken. He had fallen into a deep coma and while he was completely healed physically, he seemed to lose all will to live...

Despite all their efforts, it had been all for naught.

To make things even worse, when word had initially gotten around about the failed mission and the conditions of each of its' members, many people had demanded retribution in the form of spilt blood from the catatonic Naruto.

It was only through the swift actions of the Godaime Hokage that the ANBU had been dispatched in time to maintain the peace of Konohagakure no Sato.

As the weeks passed, the Clan Heads also met, in secret. They had decided to take a more neutral stance in the case of the young, defenseless Uzumaki. While they weren't slandering and vilifying his existence, they weren't exactly supportive either. They even went as far as to discourage members of the clans to distance himself from the final member of a failed teacher and two traitors.

This had lead to a division in the clans as the members of Naruto's class stood up to their parents. The members of Team Shikamaru would not forget the efforts of their comrades in their ill-fated mission. Nor would they abandon the one who had tried and fought hardest to bring back his wayward teammates.

It had been, to the surprise of many, Shikamaru and Hyuuga Hinata, the latter with much encouragement from her cousin, that had fought the hardest against their clans, leaving a few Clan Heads more than a little ashamed of their actions. Though it had been a trying time, they had managed to get their parents to back their comatose friend.

However, much to their chagrin, Yamanaka Inoichi would not enter Naruto's mind for unexplained reasons that the Godaime had seemed to understand. Nor would any other Yamanaka for that matter, save for Ino.

Unfortunately, Ino had been expressly denied permission to do what her clan had outright refused to do by both her father and the Hokage. When she had attempted to do it anyway, she had been banned from the access list of those allowed to visit Naruto, thus a different member- usually Shikamaru or Hinata- would deliver a fresh bouquet of orange flowers to Naruto everyday.

Shikamaru couldn't hold back his depressed sigh. Dark times awaited Konoha and he was certain it would only get worse from there...

Jiraiya was getting sick and tired of this.

His apprentice, his godson and the son of his former apprentice- considered by many, the comatose blonde included, as the greatest shinobi whom ever lived- was currently laid up in a hospital bed.

Only once had the boy woken up, and even then it was only to yell out in agonizing pain and to create a god awful mess. The boy had been experiencing so much pain that the body couldn't take it and the body began to turn it into orgasmic pleasure. Tsunade said that it was a miracle Naruto even survived that considering the levels of extreme pain and pleasure he was expiriencing simultaneously.

And the one person Naruto needed, the one person he could possibly connect to in lieu of the rest of his friend's betrayal, was currently hosting a pity party for himself, avoiding his remaining student once more.

"Kakashi!" Jiraiya shouted pounding on the door. "Kakashi, open up right now, damnit!"

Jiraiya waited a few more minutes before knocking again.

"Kakashi..." Jiraiya growled, "Naruto needs you!"

Getting fed up of waiting and playing nice like he had been the last few weeks, Jiraiya decided on a more direct and forceful approach.

"Fine, but don't complain later!" yelled Jiraiya as he busted down the door.

However, the words he had been about to shout out became stuck in his throat. He became utterly speechless at the sight of a rather large pool of blood on the floor. On the nearby table was a note, which only held three words.

_Naruto-_

I'm sorry...

* * *

A/N: Welcome to the Hivemind. You will be assimilated.


End file.
